Adventure Comics #355
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAdventure Comics #355 concludes Jim Shooter's two-part 'Adult Legion' storyline, offering Silver Age readers an unusually detailed — and remarkably influential — vision of their favorite heroes grown up: married, retired, or dead. The issue also serves as the first appearance (in the 'Adult Legion' context) of Beauty Blaze and Echo as members of the adult Legion of Super-Villains, while the backup story establishes Lana Lang's Insect Queen persona as a Legion Reserve member, a status that echoed through the character's continuity for years. The 'Adult Legion' two-parter proved so generative that later writers repeatedly returned to its prophecies — foreshadowed deaths, marriages, and fates — treating them as canonical road markers for the entire Silver Age Legion mythology.
In "The War of the Legions!", Lana Lang joins Superboy on a trip to the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she seeks membership despite initial rejection. Her determination leads her to take part in a critical mission that earns her a spot in the Legion Reserve. Written by Otto Binder and illustrated by Curt Swan with inks by George Klein, this 1967 adventure captures a pivotal moment in Lana’s journey, with cover art by Swan and Klein.
More listings for this title
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue was produced under DC's editor Mort Weisinger, with E. Nelson Bridwell serving as assistant editor; Jim Shooter — who had begun contributing Legion scripts as a teenager — provided the script and page layouts for the lead story, which Curt Swan then fully penciled, with inks by George Klein. The backup 'The Six-Legged Legionnaire' was scripted by Otto Binder, a Silver Age DC veteran with a recurring fondness for Lana Lang; Binder wrote only a handful of Legion stories, and this backup was among his last contributions to the feature. The issue was published on February 28, 1967, with a cover price of twelve cents.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Contains two stories: 'The War of the Legions!' (lead, script and layouts by Jim Shooter, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by George Klein) and 'The Six-Legged Legionnaire' (backup, script by Otto Binder, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by George Klein).
- First appearance of Beauty Blaze (fire-wielder) and Echo (sonic-powered) as adult Legion of Super-Villains members — though their first in-continuity appearance is retroactively placed in Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #2 (November 2008).
- Lana Lang, as Insect Queen, applies for Legion membership and is rejected under the rule prohibiting artificially derived powers, but earns Legion Reserve (honorary) status after proving herself in battle against the alien Oggar-Kon.
- The lead story reveals that the 30th-century descendants of Lex Luthor (here called 'Lex Luthor') and Mr. Mxyzptlk (here called 'Mxyzptlk V') have joined the Legion of Super-Heroes to atone for their ancestors' crimes.
- The issue introduces the adult identities of the Legion's founding villains in a Legion context: Saturn Queen, Lightning Lord, and Cosmic King lead the adult Legion of Super-Villains.
- Reprints: 'The War of the Legions!' was reprinted in DC Super-Stars #3 (1976) and Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 6; 'The Six-Legged Legionnaire' was reprinted in Superboy #181 and Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 6. Both stories also appear in the Legion of Super-Heroes: The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 2 (2018) and Showcase Presents: Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 3 (2009).
- The two-part 'Adult Legion' arc (issues #354–355) functioned as a long-term continuity blueprint: later writers, including Paul Levitz, revisited the prophesied deaths and marriages shown here as binding events in Legion history.
Cast · 25 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Lana Lang accompanies Superboy to a meeting of the Legion and applies for membership. Though she is rejected, she participates in a mission and is elected to the Legion Reserve.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
Key issues in Adventure Comics
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.